Thunder chase the ultimate record after steamrolling Suns in NBA Cup

The Thunder were already flirting with history before the Suns even stepped onto the floor at Paycom Center for their NBA Cup quarterfinal. Oklahoma City opened the 2025-26 season at 23-1, a start matched by only one team and topped by one more.

The 1969-70 Knicks reached the same mark and finished with 60 wins before capturing the first title in franchise history at Madison Square Garden. The 2015-16 Warriors pushed the record to 24-0 and set a 73-9 all-time regular season high, although their season ended with the Cavaliers and LeBron James erasing a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals.

Those are the benchmarks now hovering around a Thunder team that won its first title under its current identity last season, or its second if you count the franchise’s Seattle days, when Lenny Wilkens led the Sonics to the 1979 championship. Could the Thunder surpass the Warriors’ historic record?

Thunder machine shows no signs of slowing down

For now, Oklahoma City does not seem remotely concerned with the pressure. The Thunder play like a jackhammer, winning 17 of their first 23 games by double digits. They have often been able to rest starters in fourth quarters, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The reigning MVP entered the NBA Cup quarterfinal averaging only 33.3 minutes, his lowest since his Clippers rookie year, while putting up 32.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 6.4 assists on more than 55 percent shooting from the field and 44 percent from three.

He is chasing the NBA Cup trophy that slipped away last year in a loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, which would have completed a rare double.

A Suns team with nothing to lose

Phoenix, meanwhile, arrived with no pressure at all. The project that once seemed designed to force Kevin Durant into contortions fell apart when he was traded to the Rockets. Bradley Beal and his huge contract were shipped to the Clippers, where the losing continues. The Suns entered the knockout rounds, which count toward regular season standings, at 14-10 with Dillon Brooks averaging 22.1 points after arriving from Houston in the Durant deal. Devin Booker was averaging 25 but was dealing with lingering soreness and was a game time decision.

Above all, the Suns were calm. No cursed stars. No Beal drama. No infighting or off court headaches. After the chaos of the last several years, including the painful 2021 Finals loss, that alone felt like a relief.

Booker sits and the blowout gets ugly

Booker ultimately did not play, and the final score looked like something out of a video game. Oklahoma City crushed Phoenix 138-89, putting up 38 points in the first quarter and leading by as many as 53. At times, it was hard to watch. It also made you wonder whether anyone is truly capable of challenging the Thunder this season.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 28 points on 11-for-15 shooting and eight assists in fewer than 27 minutes, barely raising his heart rate. Chet Holmgren added 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting with a perfect 4-for-4 from deep, plus eight rebounds and three blocks in less than 25 minutes.

OKC shot nearly 60 percent from the field and 55 percent from three. Brooks led Phoenix with 16 points.

In hindsight, it was probably best not to push Booker to play. There was nothing waiting for him on the court except a long night.

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Oklahoma City Thunder

Stats

5 Luguentz Dort
8 Jalen Williams
7 Chet Holmgren
2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
22 Cason Wallace
15 Branden Carlson
9 Alex Caruso
13 Ousmane Dieng
25 Ajay Mitchell
21 Aaron Wiggins
6 Jaylin Williams
34 Kenrich Williams
3 Chris Youngblood
23 Brooks Barnhizer

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
5 Luguentz Dort	21	12	4	1	3	1	0	0	0	1/1	1/2	3/6	0	3	0
8 Jalen Williams	22	15	5	0	5	5	3	1	0	4/4	4/5	1/3	0	1	0
7 Chet Holmgren	24	24	8	2	6	2	0	0	3	2/3	5/9	4/4	0	0	0
2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	26	28	2	0	2	8	4	2	1	3/3	8/11	3/4	0	0	0
22 Cason Wallace	18	9	4	0	4	2	0	4	0	0/0	3/3	1/2	0	2	0
15 Branden Carlson	12	11	2	0	2	0	0	0	1	0/0	4/4	1/1	0	0	0
9 Alex Caruso	12	3	1	1	0	1	2	3	0	0/0	0/1	1/2	0	0	0
13 Ousmane Dieng	12	11	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0/0	1/2	3/4	0	1	0
25 Ajay Mitchell	18	9	3	0	3	4	1	1	2	2/2	2/3	1/2	0	0	0
21 Aaron Wiggins	21	6	3	0	3	1	2	2	0	0/0	0/3	2/4	0	4	0
6 Jaylin Williams	21	2	6	2	4	6	0	1	0	0/0	1/2	0/1	0	2	0
34 Kenrich Williams	17	5	1	0	1	1	2	0	0	0/0	1/3	1/4	0	0	0
3 Chris Youngblood	9	3	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	1/3	0	1	0
23 Brooks Barnhizer	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0

Phoenix Suns

Stats

3 Dillon Brooks
0 Ryan Dunn
15 Mark Williams
8 Grayson Allen
12 Collin Gillespie
17 Jamaree Bouyea
20 Rasheer Fleming
23 Jordan Goodwin
21 Nigel Hayes
11 Oso Ighodaro
10 Khaman Maluach
0 Royce O'Neale
2 Nick Richards
14 Koby Brea

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
3 Dillon Brooks	26	16	2	0	2	1	0	0	0	6/7	2/11	2/5	0	3	0
0 Ryan Dunn	16	4	2	1	1	2	3	1	1	0/0	2/2	0/2	0	1	0
15 Mark Williams	19	9	5	1	4	1	0	1	0	5/7	2/5	0/0	0	0	0
8 Grayson Allen	21	10	1	1	0	4	1	1	0	2/2	1/2	2/7	0	2	0
12 Collin Gillespie	25	2	4	1	3	3	4	3	0	0/0	1/4	0/1	0	0	0
17 Jamaree Bouyea	28	14	2	0	2	6	2	1	1	0/0	4/6	2/3	0	0	0
20 Rasheer Fleming	9	7	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0/0	2/3	1/2	0	0	0
23 Jordan Goodwin	18	15	3	1	2	1	2	2	0	0/0	3/7	3/5	0	2	0
21 Nigel Hayes	12	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/2	0	0	0
11 Oso Ighodaro	19	6	5	2	3	3	1	0	0	0/0	3/7	0/0	0	1	0
10 Khaman Maluach	9	2	3	0	3	1	0	0	0	0/0	1/2	0/1	0	0	0
0 Royce O'Neale	26	4	4	0	4	1	5	2	0	0/0	2/4	0/3	0	2	0
2 Nick Richards	7	0	5	0	5	1	2	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	2	0
14 Koby Brea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0